On this board we have one thing in common, our trade. But we also need to vent from time to time. If its politics, so be it! There are also other things that need to be discused besides Electricity. As for me, I don't want to go to another Board to do this. If you do not like a thread don't read it, or don't respond to it negativly. You can express you opinion, but remember your among your peers.The glory of this country is we are all the same in being different from each other, some slightly and others greatly. Thats life!

The people on this board are smart and I'd like to know what they think on any topic.

For the record, I agree with the way you and the other mods keep this forum under control. Even I have slipped and posted inappropriate comments, which were handled in a polite and civil manner.

There are always three major hot-button topics; politics, religion and sexuality. No matter how one would try to moderate such discussions, it is far too easy to allow them to degenerate into major flame wars.

If you'd like an example, take a look at the forums on powerlineman.com {Mods: feel free to edit this direct reference if you deem it necessary.) I'm not knocking the site or it's moderators, but thier discussions frequently get quite out of hand, with personal insults flying.

Even designating a separate area for politics can still result in a lot of misunderstandings and bad blood.

Politics, like excrement, just happens. Even here. But as much as possible, I'd dearly love to keep the politics limited to that which is directly relevant to the electrical field, eg. AFCI requirements or minimum service sizes, adoption of electrical codes. These discussions will cause enough pain; we don't need to borrow more.

Although I haven't been participating much lately due to a heavy workload / family load,I have been around consistently for nearly 5 years. The reason that I spend the little time I do have exclusively on this site, is because of the way the administrators have managed it. It has remained consistent through a series of moderators who all seem to adhere to similar guidelines, and it works well, in my opinion.